


Half a Chance

by titaniumplatedspine



Series: Cop a Feel [2]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cop a Feel Prequel, How Chance adopted Otabek, Otabek and his dog, Vet Otabek, mentions of dog fighting, mentions of euthanasia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-22
Updated: 2017-11-22
Packaged: 2019-02-05 10:09:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12792315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/titaniumplatedspine/pseuds/titaniumplatedspine
Summary: Prequel to Cop a Feel, or how Otabek was adopted by a dog.





	Half a Chance

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by all the dogs I have ever loved. Specifically my own baby Chance (mommy still misses you every day), and my pittie mixes Z and Diesel. Much of Chance's obnoxious behavior as a puppy comes from my experiences with Z.

Otabek walked into work, a coffee in hand. He changed into a set of scrubs and shoved his backpack full of street clothes into a locker in the break room. He hated public transit, but it was useless trying to drive and get anywhere on time in this city. He took the last sip of his coffee before throwing the cup in the trash and walking out to the lobby to start his day.

“Otabek!” he turned and was greeted by the wild mass of auburn curls that characterized Maisy, a vet tech at the clinic, and his unofficial right hand when he was working. “Police shut down a dog fighting ring last night, we are overwhelmed with pits. Joel wants your help settling them in.”

Otabek agreed and walked to the back room with Maisy where he recognized the dark pixie cut of Amber, another tech and Joel, one of the more experienced veterinarians were already at work. There had to be at least 10 adult dogs in various states of neglect and injury, along with two litters of puppies and a few half grown dogs. Most of them were pits, but he recognized a few others of indeterminate breeds that looked like they had been used as bait dogs. 

Otabek quashed the rage in his chest as he got to work settling in the dogs. It ended up being an all day project. The more aggressive dogs had to be muzzled and separated into their own holding areas. Joel and Otabek went to work treating the most severe injuries first. They stitched up the bait dogs first and sent them with Amber and Maisy to be bathed and settled into kennels. The girls had also stepped in to handle the half grown dogs that were still in good shape. Otabek and Joel worked together to handle the dogs that had been clearly used for fighting. Most of them growled at the vets, but only two tried to snap from behind their muzzles. Finally it was down to just the litters of puppies and their mothers. 

Joel shot an exhausted grin Otabek’s way and gestured to the last two kennels, “You take the one on the left, I’ll take the one on the right?” Otabek shot him an equally exhausted nod in return and gestured for Maisy to come give him a hand. He was grateful she had been here today to help with this. She was worth her weight in gold in his opinion. She was soft spoken and gentle with the animals, but could verbally reduce a grown man to tears if that’s what it took to get him to properly care for his animal. 

“Oh my god, Otabek, they’re the cutest fucking things!” Maisy stage whispered at him as he held out his hand waiting for mama to sniff at him. He shot the tech a small grin over his shoulder. He wasn’t prepared to gush like Maisy was, but he agreed with her assessment of the puppies. 

“Hey sweetheart. You’re a pretty girl aren’t you? Yes you are. Such a good mama. I don’t want to hurt you or your babies, I just want to make sure you’re all healthy. You gonna let me come in there? That’s a good girl, want a treat? I have some beef jerky for you if you promise not to bite me.”

Otabek continued the soothing monologue as he scooted closer to the dog, eventually getting close enough for her to sniff his hand. She accepted the small pieces of jerky he was tearing off, and eventually allowed him to scratch her chin. Maisy sat by the door, still and humming soothingly waiting for Otabek to signal her to join him. Eventually mama relaxed enough to allow Otabek to examine her, and he signaled Maisy to start in on the litter of five puppies. 

“I’m worried about her.” Otabek murmured to Maisy, still scratching behind the mama dog’s ears. She had settled into it and plastered herself to Otabek’s side. “She’s severely malnourished. I don’t think she’s capable of producing any milk for the puppies.”

“You’re right. The puppies are small too. I’ll get some of the supplemented food in here for her and see if she’s able to nurse again. If not we’ll be feeding the little guys.”

 

Otabek and Maisy finished with their examination of the puppies, who were healthy aside from their size, and Maisy jogged off to get the special formula for their mama. Otabek checked in with Joel who was washing up after his own examination of the other litter. 

“Nice work today Altin.” Otabek nodded and thanked the senior vet, but Joel wasn’t done. “I’d like your help monitoring these guys over the next few days. Humane society will take the ones in good health, but we need to clear them first. Keep Maisy on it too.”

“I don’t think we’d be able to keep her away from the puppies anyways.” Otabek remarked wryly, glancing at the kennels where Maisy and Amber were playing with the older puppies from Joel’s litter. Joel barked out a laugh and slapped Otabek’s shoulder in agreement.

◈

“Otabek, we have a problem.”

Otabek turned to frown at Maisy who was gesturing for him to follow. It was the end of the work day, and the Friday before his weekend off, and he was ready to go home. He allowed himself to be led to the back room where the litters of puppies still were. Most of the younger dogs that had not yet been put into the fighting ring, along with almost all of the bait dogs had been taken by the humane society. The fighting dogs had been taken by a rescue group who were going to work on rehabilitating them. Only the mama dogs and litters of puppies were left, and the dog with the older litter would probably be moved to the humane society soon as well. 

Maisy led him to the litter they had examined the first day. The mama dog, who Maisy had been calling Flora, was doing much better and putting on weight. She’d starting producing enough milk for the puppies, who were also thriving. 

Maisy pointed to the corner, and Otabek saw immediately what the concern was. One little puppy, the runt of the litter was not doing so well. He had suffered the most while Flora had been suffering from malnutrition and he was having a lot of trouble even getting to his mama to feed. He let out a sigh and started opening the kennel. 

“Set up some formula for me and bring it in. I’ll see if I can get him to eat.”

Otabek eased his way into the kennel, murmuring at Flora who whined and wagged her tail but stayed still while her puppies fed. Otabek grabbed one of the blankets used to make Flora’s bed and settled it into his lap. He reached out and grabbed the puppy, humming softly at it as he settled it into the blanket. Otabek wrapped up the little puppy in the blanket, and reached out to scratch Flora’s ears while he waited for Maisy to return with his formula. 

“Here you go doc.” Maisy was at the door with a small syringe of formula. Otabek took it from her with a soft thank you and settled himself in to try and feed the puppy.

◈

“Doc. Otabek! C’mon it’s time to get up.” Otabek woke up to a hand shaking his shoulder. He opened his eyes blearily and stilled at the yipping from his lap. He looked down to see the puppy still in his lap mouthing at the now empty syringe.He looked up blearily to find Maisy smiling at him from where she had been shaking his shoulder. “Hey there Doc. You fell asleep feeding the little man.You ready to go home?”

Otabek shifted, groaning slightly as his back popped. He carefully picked up the puppy he’d been holding, and placed him back in the bed set up in the corner. The puppy grumbled, but snuggled in among his siblings and fell asleep almost instantly. Otabek spent another few minutes petting Flora and the puppies, before he eased his sore body up (note for the future, do not fall asleep sitting up on a cement floor no matter how cute the puppy is). Maisy was still waiting with a soft smile on her face as she watched the puppies. He closed the kennel door, and Maisy wrapped both her arms around his bicep and leaned her head on his shoulder.

“Those puppies? We did that. They’re alive because of the work we did.”

Otabek considered her words while he watched Flora and the babies. They were getting big, with the exception of the little man he’d been feeding. At his best guess they were about four weeks old with their eyes open and starting to really walk and yip. With any luck they’d be cleared to go to the humane society within the next couple weeks, and they’d be adopted out to good homes. The community had rallied behind the story of the dogs saved from the dog fighting ring. All the young dogs and bait dogs who still had good temperaments had already been adopted out, and Otabek had heard there were waiting lists miles long for the other batch of puppies and their mother. 

“I heard from Rayann today.”

“Oh? How is she?” Rayann was one of the lead volunteers with the group that had taken the fighting dogs for rehabilitation. She was smart and tough as nails, and loved dogs more than anyone Otabek had ever met. The apprehensive look on Maisy’s face made him think the news wasn’t good.

“They put to put one of the dogs down. You remember Boris, that big white one with the ears that were cropped way too short?”

“I remember. He tried to snap at Joel and I through his muzzle. His ears were a mess.”

“That’s the one. He kept going after the other dogs, and tried to go after some of the volunteers. He got Rayann today and took a nasty bite out of her arm.” By this point Maisy was openly crying, and Otabek eased his arm from her grip to put it around her shoulders. “Who in the fuck does this to dogs? That boy didn’t deserve that. He used to be a sweet puppy just like these guys. Pitties are such good babies, but it’s shitty people that hurt them that give them such a bad rep. God! I hate him!” 

Maisy smacked her hand against the last kennel as she screamed her last statement, and Flora jumped and let a soft growl out. Otabek wrapped his arms around Maisy to hug her close, and let her cry, making soothing sounds for the benefit of both her and Flora. Eventually both of them settled, and Otabek walked Maisy out to the break room to gather their things. 

“Hey,” he called softly, not wanting to upset his coworker who still had red rimmed eyes and was sniffling back tears, “you going to be okay getting home?”

This seemed to help, as Maisy stopped sniffling to scoff at him, and shot him an amused look, “What you gonna do doc, take me home on the train? No, I’ll be fine. My husband is actually outside to pick me up. I’ll see you in the morning.” She cuffed his shoulder as she passed, and Otabek waited until she was out of sight to grab his phone.

_Heard you took a nasty bite and had to put one of ours down today. I hope you’re okay, shoot me a text if you need anything._

Rayann would probably ignore him for the night. She would be taking the loss of the dog harder than Maisy was, but at least the offer was out there. With a heavy heart of his own Otabek locked up the office behind him and made his own way to the subway station for his ride home.

◈

“Otabek!”

Otabek turned from where he was finishing the discharge of a beagle who had been in for his yearly vaccines to find Maisy waiting for him and she was fuming. He ran a hand through his hair, knowing whatever was coming it wouldn’t be good.

He thanked the beagle’s owner, and reached down to give the dog one last treat and ear rub before making his way to where Maisy was standing at the entrance to the kennels with Samara, one of the staff from the Humane Society. 

“Hello Samara. Here for the last litter of puppies?”

“She’s here for some of them.” Maisy shot out nastily, glaring at Samara all the while. Otabek and Samara both winced at her frosty tone, and Otabek put a hand on her shoulder to hold her back while he looked at Samara for an explanation.

“It’s the runt.” she sighed. “Otabek, you know I’d take him if I could but David says we can’t afford the formula or manpower to feed him. He doesn’t want me to take him.”

“David is a useless dick!”

“Maisy.” Otabek chided, although he agreed with her completely. David ran the humane society, but Otabek had yet to see him do much good for any of the animals. He was more the type who wanted to put his name on things and be applauded for his humanitarianism. By the unhappy twist to Samara’s mouth, she agreed. Otabek cast his mind around for a solution. The little puppy wasn’t really old enough to be away from his mother for at least another two weeks, but he would make it off formula if someone could feed him. 

Maisy looked ready to charge over to the humane society and rip David a new one, and Otabek knew she was still hurting after Rayann had been forced to put down Boris last week.He’d love to see her take David down a peg or two personally, but he also knew it wouldn’t help this situation. 

“I’ll take him.”

Both women were apparently as surprised by the words coming out of his mouth as he was. Samara gaped, but Maisy was slowly starting to smile, and before he knew it he’d been tackled by the squealing vet tech.

“Now hold on, this isn’t forever. I’ll keep him long enough to get him healthy, then he can go to the shelter to be adopted with the others. Do you think that will be acceptable to David?” He looked to Samara, still trying to get away from Maisy who had been reduced to jumping up and down holding his arm and squealing.

“I think that will be acceptable.” Samara shot him a small grateful smile, and moved to the kennels to make arrangements for the other dogs. Otabek took the opportunity to press the palm of his hand to Maisy’s forehead and bodily push her away from him.

“You want to help me out with this, go get some food and pads set up for me to take him home tonight. I need to go talk to Joel.” Maisy shot off, all smiles to set up the supplies he would need for the night, and Otabek let his head thump against his head. What in the hell had he just agreed to?

◈

Otabek had made a nice little bed in the corner of his bathroom for the puppy. He’d sacrificed some of his own towels to make a soft and warm place for the puppy to sleep. He’d covered the floor in pads in case the puppy had an accident. He fed the little man, and settled him into his bed before shutting the bathroom door and crawling into his own bed for the night.

The puppy was not appreciative of his efforts. The puppy was at the bathroom door yipping and howling as best as he could. The puppy was not going to let Otabek get any sleep.

Otabek tried to tough it out, but it was just not happening. He finally gave up, crawled out of bed and stalked over to the bathroom door. He opened it to be greeted by one little puppy, now smiling and wagging his tail as though he had never been barking in the first place. The puppy toddled forward on still uncertain legs, before sniffing and nipping at Otabek’s toes. 

“Stop being cute.”

It didn’t work. The puppy was still cute.

Otabek gave up and grabbed some more puppy pads and the puppy bed. He carried them to his bedroom and set them up next to his bed, the puppy happily leaping along behind and investigating everything he did. Finally Otabek closed his bedroom door to keep the puppy contained for the night, and picked him up and cradled him to his chest. 

“I am going to bed puppy. You will go to your bed and be quiet, do you understand?” Otabek fixed the puppy with his sternest face and voice. The puppy looked at him out of big innocent grey eyes and gnawed on his thumb. Well, hopefully this would be enough. Otabek settled the puppy in his bed, then again crawled into his own and turned out the lights. 

It seemed like it would be okay at first. The puppy was much more content in the bedroom than he had been in the bathroom. He seemed to settle in to sleep. Then puppy decided he didn’t want to sleep in his own bed. 

It started with a little snuffling noise. Otabek could hear the puppy sniffing the bed and trying to figure out where Otabek was. He shuffled around and walked around the bed looking for a way up. He tried jumping and crawling up into the bed, and Otabek heard the little thump as he fell back to the ground. 

_No,_ Otabek thought to himself, _that puppy is not coming into the bed._

And that’s when the barking began again. The puppy sat on the ground by Otabek’s head and yapped as mournfully as he could. Otabek shoved his head under the pillow. He could still hear him. From below him someone was pounding on their ceiling and yelling at him to shut the dog up. God dammit. 

Otabek turned his bedside lamp on and leaned over to scoop the puppy up. He was still not very big, maybe a little over two kilograms (~5lbs). He was a gorgeous boy, that Otabek was willing to admit. He was a blue nose pit, with a white chest and large grey eyes. Currently he was trying to lick Otabek’s nose while his tail wagged so hard his entire lower half shook with it. 

“If you pee in my bed, I will let meany David do whatever he wants with you, do you understand?”

The puppy yipped at him like he did understand, and Otabek turned the light off once more before settling himself into bed with the puppy. The puppy settled into the space by his shoulder, and sprawled on his back across Otabek’s neck. At least he was quiet, and with that Otabek finally closed his eyes to get some sleep. 

The next morning did not go well. Puppy had done his best, but still had an accident in the living room. He was more interested in eating Otabek’s toes than eating, and he had sharp little baby teeth yet. Otabek wrapped the dog in puppy pads and blankets, before shoving him in a messenger bag along with his scrubs Puppy’s head stuck out and his mouth hung open happily. Otabek sighed and shoved his feet into his shoes. At least someone was happy.

◈

A few weeks later Otabek and Puppy had developed a sort of truce. Puppy didn’t cry at night as long as Otabek let him sleep on the bed. Puppy still had the occasional accident, but he made it to a puppy pad as long as Otabek took him for a long walk at night. In truth, Otabek was freaking whipped by the dog and refusing to admit it.

It was going to make it so much worse to give him up. 

Puppy was almost ten weeks old. He had finally gained the weight he needed. He was eating solid foods. It was time for him to find a family like his siblings had. Someone with a kid for him to play with. Maybe someone with a yard for him to run in, instead of being stuck in a vet’s office and a small apartment all day. 

Puppy knew something was wrong, and had refused to leave Otabek’s side all day. Otabek was holding him now, getting in one last cuddle session and inhaling the sweet puppy smell once more. Samara had already texted to say she was on her way, and Otabek was dreading it. 

“You don’t have to do this you know.” Maisy said softly next to him, also petting Puppy once more. She had been a saint for the past few months, helping feed Puppy while Otabek was working, and taking him out for walks and potty breaks at the clinic. She’d also worked hard on basic manners and thanks to her Puppy could sit and shake reliably. Lay down and stay were still in progress however. 

“It’s better for him Mais.” Otabek insisted stubbornly. “He’s cooped up too much with me. It’s not fair.”

Maisy hung her head, but in her heart she knew Otabek was right. They both spent the last few moments loving on Puppy, waiting for the moment Samara would come and claim him. Finally she arrived, and she gave them both a gentle smile. She knew this was hard for the both of them after all the work they’d put in raising him.

“You guys get your goodbyes in?” She asked them both softly, and Otabek squeezed Puppy to his chest once more before passing him off to Samara. Puppy was unhappy and confused at the change, and began to bark immediately as the strange lady carried him outside. His distressed yips and barks carried back into clinic, and Otabek grasped Maisy’s hand for strength as both of them tried to hide their tears.

◈

Otabek was out driving his motorcycle when his phone went off. He couldn’t hear the ringing, but felt the vibration in his jacket pocket. He had to stop for gas anyways so he made his way to the next gas station before grabbing his phone and checking the display.

It was Leo, an old classmate of his from college. They’d gone through veterinary school together, and had remained friends. Otabek unlocked his phone to return the call while he filled his gas tank. 

“Hey Beks!”

Otabek allowed a sliver of a grin to slip out. Leo had always been cheerful and enthusiastic, and Otabek was sure that optimism was the only thing that had gotten both of them through vet school. 

“Hey Leo. Saw you called.”

“Yeah, I actually have a proposition for you if you got a sec?”

“I can make a minute.”

“Awesome! So you know that clinic I work at? We’re going to have an opening in about six months. I wanted to know if you’d be interested?”

Otabek’s heart was pounding. He had been supremely jealous of the job Leo had gotten after graduation. The clinic was smaller than the one Otabek worked at, but still successful. They saw more pets with owners who cared for them, not the large amounts of strays and abuse cases Otabek dealt with daily. The town was big enough, but far more residential than the busy city Otabek had found himself in. It was closer to his family. Otabek would have killed someone for an opportunity like this.

“Leo, you’re not playing with me? There’s seriously an opening?”

Leo laughed at him over the phone and otabek was almost offended, “It’s the real deal man. Doc Jones is retiring, and I’m taking over. I can make do on my own, but I want to expand and have a second vet for emergency and weekend hours. You’re my first choice. I take it you’re interested?”

“Fuck yes. When do I start?”

◈

Starting wasn’t that simple. Otabek had to resign from his current job, and transfer his qualifications out of state to where Leo’s clinic was situated. His savings would get him through the next few months, and his old high school friend Jean had offered to get him a job at the bar he worked at in the meantime. He had to find a new place to live. He was ecstatic when he found a small house to rent that would let him have pets. It would be perfect for a dog, and he thought about Puppy for a brief second before shutting that train of thought down. Puppy had surely been adopted by now.

It was his last day at the clinic, and Maisy and Amber had surprised him with a going away party and a absurdly big cake shaped like a dog bone. He was laughing and enjoying his last visit with his co-workers when Maisy’s phone went off and she stepped out of the room. He heard a shriek from the hallway, and a lot of heads turned in her direction. She walked back in grinning, and he knew she was plotting something, he just didn’t know what. 

He got his answer about an half an hour later when Samara walked in leading Puppy, who was at least three bigger than he had been the last time Otabek had seen him. The second they got in the room Puppy started barking furiously and pulled the leash free of Samara’s hands. Otabek was already on the ground, waiting to catch Puppy in his arms. They both rolled on the ground playing as they reacquainted themselves, and Otabek was sure Puppy was chiding him.

“I don’t understand, I thought he was adopted?” Otabek looked to Samara for answers, Puppy still rolling around in his lap. 

“We had a number of families interested, but it never clicked. He didn’t seem to care for any of them. He even ate the laptop of one of the couples. Then I got a call that a certain vet was moving into a house with a yard, and I thought maybe he’d already picked his person and was just waiting for him to be ready.”

Otabek ducked his head and buried it into Puppy’s neck, hiding his tears in Puppy’s coat. Puppy for his part whined and did his best to snuggle closer to Otabek.

“Well what do you say boy? You want to stay with me?” Otabek whispered, and Puppy wriggled in delight, spinning in circles and licking Otabek’s face. “Okay, okay, I get it. You’re mine now. What do I need to do?” he looked up and asked Samara, who was just shaking her head at him. 

“It’s all taken care of. All you have to do is give him a real name.”

“How about Chance?” offered Maisy from where she was kneeling next to his side scratching Puppy’s ears. “Because he wouldn’t have had one without you.”

“Chance.” Otabek tried out, and laughed as Puppy-no, Chance now-leaped forward to lick his nose. “I like it. Let’s go home.”

◈

Otabek threw the last of his boxes into the fire pit in the backyard. He was finally done unpacking, and he and Chance were settling in well. Chance had been a model pet, and Otabek was using his time off to drill some more obedience skills into him. Currently Chance was running around the backyard, a rope in his mouth and being chased by a laughing Jean. Leo and his boyfriend had just pulled up with their own puppy in tow. He took a deep breath of the fresh air, so unlike the smog of the city. This was his home now and it was perfect.

“Chance! No!”

Otabek looked up to see Chance making off with one of the steaks that had been marinating on the side of the grill, Jean chasing along right behind him. Well, maybe he still had some things that could be worked on.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](https://titaniumplatedspine.tumblr.com/) and let's scream about puppies and YOI together.
> 
> Check out my moodboard [ here ](https://titaniumplatedspine.tumblr.com/post/167762647443/half-a-chanceprequel-to-cop-a-feel-or-how-otabek) to see my image of what Chance looks like.
> 
> Saw [this video ](http://babyanimalgifs.tumblr.com/post/168027443491/babyanimalgifs-look-at-the-little-legs) on tumblr today and it gave me some serious baby Chance feels.


End file.
